If You Love Me Won't You Let Me Know?
by rainingroses05
Summary: "Philip needs someone to take pictures of. Lukas is of course the first person he thinks of." Or, Philip is a college student who likes to take pictures. Especially of Lukas. For Philkas Week- Day Three- Alternate Universe. Title from "Violet Hill" by Coldplay.


Philip sits down in front of the computer in the library and plugs his USB into the side, tapping his hand against the table as he waits for it to pop up on the desktop. Finally, the drive appears on the computer, and Philip clicks into it, beginning to scroll through the photos.

After a while, he starts to find it somewhat difficult to keep his eyes open. He rests his head on the edge of the desk.

He _knows_ it's a bad idea because he has a bad habit of falling asleep _everywhere_ , but his head is killing him, and he hasn't had one good night of sleep in at least a week, and it'd be fine to just rest for a minute, right?

Wrong.

Philip wakes up to someone shaking him rather roughly by the shoulder.

"Wake up. I need to use the computer."

Philip shrugs out of the person's grip and starts to stand up. "Ok, ok, I'm going. Back off." Philip turns and looks at the stranger, who just happens to be possibly the cutest boy he has ever seen.

Just his luck considering he probably looks like crap.

Philip looks away, grabbing his bag off the ground. "I'm really sorry," he says, already moving towards the door. Clearly his only hope in this situation is to leave as quickly as possible.

"It's, uh, it's no big deal," the other boy says. He brushes his hair out of his face and stares at Philip for a moment. "Go take a nap."

Philip considers himself relatively organized. Maybe he's not the neatest person in the world, but he can usually remember where he puts things.

But he can't find his USB drive _anywhere_.

He slams his desk drawer, grimacing when it smashes onto his hand. Pain shoots through his fingers, and he rubs his eyes to keep them from watering.

His phone buzzes several times, and Philip crosses the room to his bed, clutching his hand to his chest. He picks up the phone with his uninjured hand and reads his new messages.

All of the them are from a number he doesn't recognize.

 **"You left your usb drive in the computer yesterday."**

 **"This is Philip, right?"**

Philip sighs in relief before internally scolding himself for wasting so much time looking for something that was never even in the room to begin with.

 **"Someone from your floor gave me your number. I can bring it to you."**

 **"It's Lukas from the library."**

Philip stares at the text for almost a minute before he remembers.

 _Oh._

The cute boy who woke him up yesterday.

It seems like no time at all passes before there's a knock at the door.

"Hey," Philip says as he opens the door.

"Hey," Lukas from the library says back, shuffling his feet against the floor of the hall.

There's a short moment of awkward silence before Philip starts talking. "Thank you so much; I don't know what I would have done if-"

"Don't worry about it. Those pictures are pretty good, by the way." Lukas looks down, his face flushing slightly. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the USB. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Philip pauses. "You want to come in and see some better pictures?"

Lukas hesitates. "Sure," he says after a moment.

Lukas steps through the door, and Philip struggles to get his photography portfolio out of his bag, his fingers still throbbing when he tries to move them.

"What'd you do to your hand?" Lukas asks, coming up behind him and helping him pull out the folder.

"I smashed it in a drawer looking for my USB drive. Which I wouldn't have been doing if I had known you had it. So basically it's your fault for not texting me earlier," Philip says jokingly. He sits down on his bed and pats the spot beside him.

Lukas rolls his eyes, sitting down on the bed beside Philip and opening the portfolio. "I think what you meant to say was, 'Wow, thanks.' Did you put ice on your hand?"

"No. I'll wrap it later or something."

"No, no. You're supposed to ice it. No wrapping. It's bad for blood flow or something," Lukas says. He starts to flip through the pictures.

"How do you know?"

"From smashing my fingers falling off my dirt bike a few times." Lukas pauses. "Your fingernail might fall off. Elevate your hand."

Philip rests his wrist against Lukas' shoulder. "Like that?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Lukas says, looking away.

Philip can see his face turning red, and he smiles slightly.

"Who's that?" Lukas asks. He points at one of the photos. "Your mom?"

"My foster mom."

"It's a good picture."

"Thanks."

Lukas continues looking through the photos until about halfway through the portfolio.

"You don't have to go through the whole thing," Philip says. His arm is still resting on Lukas' shoulder.

"What if I want to?"

"You're not bored yet?"

"No."

Philip yawns.

"Didn't you ever take a nap?"

It's about a week before Philip and Lukas talk again.

Philip needs someone to take pictures of. Lukas is of course the first person he thinks of.

He looks like a model for god's sake, with his blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

Just thinking about how he brushes his hair out of his face or how he smiles or just _Lukas,_ period, is enough to make Philip sort of miss him. Even though it's only been a few days, and you're probably not allowed to miss someone you've only talked to twice.

" **Hey, Lukas from the library. I need a favor."**

Philip likes the way the sun shines off of Lukas' hair.

"What am I supposed to do, like, pose, or something?" Lukas asks.

They're sitting in the grass under a tree on the east side of campus.

"I don't know yet," Philip says, looking at him through the camera.

Lukas pokes his knee with a twig. "This is weird."

"Stop it. Stay still." Philip bites his lip, a slight smile spreading across his face.

Lukas grins back and stares at him for a moment.

"What?"

Lukas shrugs. "I made you smile," he says softly.

"Is that hard?" Philip asks, looking away from the camera and at Lukas.

He shrugs again. "You don't smile a lot."

"You've known me for like a week. How would you know?" Philip takes a few more pictures before lying back in the grass. He doesn't spend a lot of time thinking about how often he smiles. Anyways he'd rather think about the fact that his smile seems to make Lukas happy.

The thought makes him smile again.

The sun is warm across his face, and it reminds him of sitting outside with Helen and Gabe in the summer.

Then something brushes against his face, and he opens his eyes.

"Why are you always so tired?" Lukas asks, flicking a blade of grass across Philip's nose. "Do you stay up all night taking artsy pictures of the sky?"

Philip grabs Lukas' hand and moves it away from his face. "Shut up. I just don't get a lot of sleep." He's still holding Lukas' hand.

He doesn't let go.

"What are you doing?"

Philip's face flushes. "I don't know," he says, attempting to untangle his hand from Lukas'.

Lukas stands up quickly, his face flushing. "Whatever. I have to go."

Philip gets a text from Lukas in the middle of class the next day telling him to meet him in an empty lot that's at least 45 minutes away.

So, because all logic has apparently left him since meeting this boy, Philip leaves class halfway through and goes to meet Lukas.

When he arrives, Lukas is sitting in the grass, a motorbike parked a few feet away.

"I left class early for _this?_ "

"You left class early?"

"Yeah." Philip kicks a clump of dirt on the ground. "I thought it was an emergency," he mumbles. He sits down next to Lukas, keeping his distance. "What do you want? I thought you were all freaked out by the… hand holding or whatever."

Lukas rips a handful of grass out of the ground. "I'm sorry."

Philip shrugs. "Whatever. Me, too."

"Don't be… I…" Lukas pauses. "I… like you," he says sharply, like he's angry about it.

"Is that such a bad thing?" Philip asks quietly. He stares down at his hands.

"I don't know." Lukas stands up, tugging on Philip's arm. "Come on, I want to show you something," he says suddenly.

Philip follows Lukas to the motorbike, where he hands him a helmet.

Lukas puts his own helmet on and swings one leg over the bike, motioning for Philip to do the same.

Philip puts the helmet on and sits behind Lukas on the bike, his heart rate already quickening.

"You're going to have to hold on, you know."

"Oh, sorry, didn't realize physical contact was allowed now," Philip retorts.

Lukas flinches.

"I'm sorry."

He takes both of Philip's hands and places them on his sides. "It's okay."

Philip loops both of his arms around Lukas' torso.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

The bike moves slightly faster than Philip was expecting, and he tightens his grip around Lukas' waist. His chest is pressed against Lukas' back, and Philip can feel him breathing.

The sky rushes past as they move across the lot.

When they finally stop and step off the bike, Philip's heart is pounding.

Both boys remove their helmets.

Lukas runs his hand through his hair.

Philip grabs the front of his shirt and pulls him closer, pressing their lips together. "I like you, too."

Philip is lying with his back resting against Lukas' chest, one earbud in his ear and the other in Lukas'.

This is how they've been spending most of their free time for the past month, cuddled up in Philip's dorm room.

No one knows about the two of them except for the two of them. Philip doesn't mind. As long as Lukas is happy.

Philip closes his eyes. He's fairly close to falling asleep. It's easier to sleep with Lukas around.

"You asleep?" Lukas asks softly.

"Not yet."

"Want to go to a party with me?"

"Sure," Philip replies sleepily.

"And I was thinking… it could be, like… a date," Lukas suggests hesitantly.

Philip turns to look at him. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

He smiles.

"Maybe I'll even kiss you in front of some strangers." Lukas grins at him.

Philip leans in and kisses Lukas' neck, his soft hair brushing against his cheek. "I'm going to take a picture of you," he says, reaching for his camera.

"Why?" Lukas throws his hands up in front of his face.

Philip pulls his hands away. "I like your smile."


End file.
